Kricket Cakes

I recently had a sweet craving, but didn’t want to dive into a huge, messy, involved project, so I scanned my recipes for something simple and easy. I came across a recipe in Deborah Madison’s “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone” called “Jam Bars.”

Now, I expected these to be like the buttery, sugary, crumble-top, berry-filled bars that you see in bakeries. But they turned out to be less sweet and with a granola bar-like flavor. Perhaps it was the oats or the nuts that made it taste so, but whatever the case, I determined that these bars are more of a breakfast or snack rather than a dessert (unless of course they are served crumbled over vanilla ice cream- which I tried and enjoyed very much). These bars are not too sweet, but are flavorful and chewy. I made mine with homemade blackberry jam (courtesy of Rachel and Susan) and cut them into 9 large bars.

For the Bars:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cups jam or preserves
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds

To Make the Bars:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon in a medium bowl, set aside.
3. Cream the butter, powdered sugar, and brown sugar in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or with a handheld mixer until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
5. Add the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.
6. Measure 3/4 cup of the dough and set it aside.
7. Press the rest of the dough evenly into an 8 x 8 inch baking pan.
8. Spread the jam over the dough.
9. Mix the remaining dough with the nuts and oats.
10. Crumble the dough over the top of the jam.
11. Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned on top.
12. Cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes, then cut.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008 at 5:09 pm and is filed under Bars. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.